In Germany, the number of shareholders has remained at a comparatively high level.
At 12.1 million, this number was only slightly below the 12.4 million in 2020, according to the Deutsches Aktieninstitut (DAI).
In 2019, the number was 9.7 million.
A similarly high level as now was last seen in 2001, when there were 12.9 million shareholders, lows mark the two years 2010 and 2015, when there were 8.4 million each.
According to the analysis by the DAI, with the figures now shown, around every sixth person, i.e. 17.1 percent of the population from the age of 14, is involved in the stock market. The institute cites the good stock market development as the reason for the stabilization of interest. Savers who were already invested in the stock market could have had more positive stock market experiences last year. This motivated me to stay on the ball. Low interest rates, rising inflation and high real estate prices would have made alternative investments unattractive and highlighted the advantages of investing in shares - even when prices had risen. However, the high price level in 2021 also discouraged potential newcomers from going public. They worried that they had missed the "right" time to enter and waited for the next "good" opportunity.But those who squint too much at low prices stay on the sidelines for too long. In the long run, the time of entry is less important than the decision to invest in stocks at all.
Addressed to politicians, the DAI formulates the demand that saving in shares must be promoted through attractive framework conditions.
The quadrupling of the allowance for employee capital programs in 2021 and the planned increase in the savings allowance are the first steps in the right direction.
"The biggest lever to make the Germans a nation of shareholders, however, is the rapid introduction of a savings process with shares in old-age provision." Action must now follow.